Doha: Two Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza, the Qatar-based channel reported on Wednesday as war rages between Israel and Hamas.
"Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Refee have been killed in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip," the network reported adding the strike "targeted a car near the Aidia area, west of Gaza City". Anas Al Sharif, a colleague of the two dead journalists, told Al Jazeera that Ghoul and Rifi were on mission to film near the house of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas chief killed in Iran earlier on Wednesday in an attack the movement blamed on Israel. “Ismail was conveying the suffering of the displaced Palestinians and the suffering of the wounded and the massacres committed by the [Israeli] occupation against the innocent people in Gaza,” he said.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the new deaths raised to 165 the number of Palestinian journalists who were killed by Israeli fire since Oct 7. Mohamed Moawad, Al Jazeera Arabic managing editor, said the Qatar-based network’s journalists were killed as they were “courageously covering the events in northern Gaza”.
Ismail was renowned for his professionalism and dedication, bringing the world’s attention to the suffering and atrocities committed in Gaza, especially at al-Shifa Hospital and the northern neighbourhoods of the besieged enclave.
“Without Ismail, the world would not have seen the devastating images of these massacres,” Moawad wrote on X, adding that al-Ghoul “relentlessly covered the events and delivered the reality of Gaza to the world through Al Jazeera”.
“His voice has now been silenced, and there is no longer a need to call out to the world Ismail fulfilled his mission to his people and his homeland,” Moawad said. “Shame on those who have failed the civilians, journalists, and humanity.” — Agencies
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